British special forces 'dropped prisoners from forklift for fun', Afghanistan Inquiry hears

British troops dropped Afghan prisoners from a forklift "for fun", and a soldier who raised concerns about the killing of three farmers in a raid by special forces was called a "Taliban-loving apologist", an inquiry has heard.

Whistleblowers Monica Grenfell, a former journalist, and Christopher Green, who was part of the Army Reserve, contacted the Afghanistan Inquiry to give evidence after the chairman issued a request for information.

The inquiry is examining allegations of war crimes by UK special forces in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, as well as claims of a subsequent cover-up.

Both witnesses spoke behind closed doors with only redacted excerpts released on Tuesday.

'We killed the wrong people'

Mr Green, who served between January and September 2012, said he tried to raise concerns about the killing of three brothers who were farmers in the village of Rahim.

They had been shot during a deliberate detention operation which Mr Green said was described to him as having "gone wrong", forcing special forces to shoot lawfully "in self-defence".

He said his unit's intelligence team was "pretty clear that there was nothing to suggest that the sons were anything other than farmers and even less to suggest that they were Taliban commanders".

When Mr Green tried to raise concerns with a liaison officer, he said "there was a strong sense of resentment" that he was questioning what the SAS were up to.

"At some point he did call me a 'Taliban-loving apologist'," he added.

Mr Green said he asked to see footage of the killings, dubbed "gun tapes", to help him understand the incident and "engage with local nationals to try and calm the situation".

However, despite having appropriate clearance to see the video, he was denied access, the inquiry heard.

The inquiry heard the brothers' mother, Bebe Hazrata, had reportedly been paid the equivalent of £3,634 in cash by the UK government after the death of her sons, which was described as an "assistance payment".

Mr Green told inquiry chairman Lord Justice Haddon-Cave it was a "very unusual policy" that he saw as an "admission of guilt that we had killed the wrong people".

"I think I can only share my regret with you that I didn't speak sooner," he said.

'People had been let off the leash'

Ms Grenfell, who worked as a kitchen member and storeman with UK special forces, was told soldiers dropped prisoners from forklifts "for fun".

She told the inquiry she had met a soldier who had told her about detainees being abused: "I specifically recall him telling me that he would put prisoners on a forklift, raise it up and drive very fast so that they fell off."

She said she had "never been anywhere that was as bad as there", with a sense "people had been let off the leash somehow".

"You felt no one was really watching them (the soldiers), and the language was just... I've never known the language like it," she added.

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The inquiry is also looking at whether there was an alleged cover-up of illegal activity and inadequate investigation by the Royal Military Police.

No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor, a £10m investigation set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by the SAS, including those of children.

A further Royal Military Police investigation, codenamed Operation Cestro, resulted in three soldiers being referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none were prosecuted.

The inquiry continues.

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